There are plenty of games worth watching, but not a single game scheduled between teams ranked in the top 25 of the AP poll. Thankfully, there’s plenty of early-season tournament drama to watch, which is always fun.

A quick look at the best games of the weekend (all times ET):

BEST STEADY-THE-SHIP GAME

This is the opening game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Brooklyn. Florida State has the pieces to be a good team, the type that could make a push into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. But, as the Seminoles showed in their opener against South Alabama, there is lots of work ahead. Last November, Florida State beat South Alabama by 41 points; this year, the Jaguars beat the Seminoles in Tallahassee. If they were to lose to BYU, that would be a most unwelcome start to what was supposed to be another good season.

Honorable mention: Jacksonville at Miami, Friday, 7 p.m. (Fox Sports South). Sure, the Hurricanes miss point guard Durand Scott, but they snuck by Stetson and lost to Florida Gulf Coast. Not a good look for a potential NCAA Tournament team.

BEST RETURNING STARTERS GAME

This is the nightcap of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. There should be zero unforced turnovers, zero missed defensive assignments and zero poor shots between these two teams with five returning starters each. Saint Joseph’s was picked first in the preseason Atlantic 10 poll, and this is an opportunity for the Hawks to salvage a little conference pride on a national scale—Saint Louis, Butler and VCU, three of the other league favorites, were handed disheartening losses this week.

BEST POTENTIAL TOURNAMENT TITLE GAME

This is the matchup we want to see in the final of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament. This solid field of teams is an early test for the N.C. State Wolfpack, everybody’s preseason darlings. There’s no guarantee Tennessee gets to the title game, but it would be great to see Vols big man Jarnell Stokes battle in the post against Richard Howell and C.J. Leslie. Getting past Oklahoma State in the semis won’t be easy for Tennessee, though.

HM: New Mexico vs. Connecticut, Monday 10 p.m. (CBS Sports Net). OK, this U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam championship game wouldn’t technically be played on the weekend, but it’s the title game of a tournament that’s played Friday/Saturday/Sunday. So, y’know, it counts.

BEST “AVENGE AN OLD NCAA LOSS” GAME

Back in the 2009-10 season, Cornell dominated the Ivy League with a veteran team led by big man Jeff Foote and sharpshooter Ryan Wittman. The Big Red, a No. 12 seed, knocked off Temple in their opener and crushed the fifth-seeded Badgers by 18 points to land in the Sweet 16. All the primaries from that Cornell team are gone, but there are Badgers who remember. Ryan Evans, now a senior leader for Wisconsin, had the finest game of his freshman season—11 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes—and current seniors Jared Berggren and Mike Bruesewitz played in that game, too.

BEST EARLY-ROUND TOURNAMENT GAME

Colorado is an intriguing team, having beaten Dayton on Thursday in the first round of the Charleston Classic. The Buffaloes are led by Andre Roberson, the type of talent who can carry his team for long stretches of time. And they’re playing in a Pac-12 that’s pretty much up for grabs after the favorites, Arizona, now that UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad has been deemed ineligible by the NCAA (though the school is appealing). The Bears again have tons of individual talent, but they’ve already shown some of the same hot-and-cold tendencies that last year’s team couldn’t shake. This game could be a blowout for either team, or it could go right down to the wire. Let’s hope for the latter.

HM: Oklahoma State vs. Tennessee, Friday, 10:30 a.m. (ESPNU). Oklahoma State freshman Marcus Smart deserves as many national TV games as he can get. Make sure to watch him Friday in the second round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.